Are flue-top particle filters good at reducing the particulates that are emitted from wood burning stoves?
Jeremy Brignell-Thorp
There seems to be a product called an Exodraft wood stove filter. This is installed at the top of the flue (chimney) and uses an electrostatic device to filter out fine particles (an electrically charged mesh that attracts fine particles). The device claims to filter out 95% of these fine and ultra fine particles and is self cleaning. It is powered by mains electricity and has an average load when running of 60W. The device incorporates a fan to also assist in establishing a draft up the flue if necessary. Ecodraft is a Danish manufacturer of chimney fans etc.
I could not find any independent review online so the only evidence is what the company provides. It seems to be a good principle, and mimics what would be in the flue gas cleaning system of larger commercial boilers so will I am sure have a positive effect. It claims to improve both the external and indoor particulate concentrations, with the indoor concentrations benefiting from the fan which ensure that there is a sufficient draw up the flue in all conditions.
This will undoubtably help, it would be useful if there were some evidence online about how much benefit this gives to indoor concentrations. The 95% claim is for external emissions. The price is around £2,000 plus installation, and without further research data it is hard to do any further quantitative evaluation.
You can listen to Jeremy’s webinar exploring the sustainability of using wood as a heating source here.
A webinar attendee has got in touch with some additional flue filters that could be investigated though he has not used them so can’t provide a recommendation.